Breaking news. The senate is voting on the 900 billion covid19 stimulus package. The house already passing the bill, which will finally give relief to millions of americans who are hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and its damage that its done to the economy. As of tonight, a record 115,000 americans are hospitalized with this virus, and more than 18 million have been infected. You know, you think about this idea that were watching right now as the live votes are coming in. You think about just the amount of delay that its take tone get to this point in time. Months of gridlock have led us to this moment in time. Youre watching on the floor right now whats happening. We go to manu raju our senior Congressional Correspondent who is live on capitol hill right now. Manu, youre there, and what are you seeing . Whats the latest in the senate vote right now . Reporter its going to be a big vote, an overwhelming bipartisan vote will get this bill across the finish line after months of partisan haggling, stalemate, gridlock, and americans suffering through this crisis. Finally the two sides have come together. They will agree to a 900 billion relief package that will eventually get to the president s desk. Its going to take a little bit of time because this bill is so gigantic. Youre talking about a 900 billion relief plan on top of 1. 4 trillion in federal spending. Theyre going to be tied together. 2. 3 trillion package more than 500 pages and legislative text that was just unveiled this afternoon. And already the senate right now is getting final approval to this massive package that will land on the president s desk. Now its going to take a come days to get the paperwork and everything together to send it to the president s desk. What the senate and house did in the meantime is approve a oneweek stopgap measure to keep the government open an additional week to give them time to get this legislation formalized and sent to the president s desk where he plans to sign it. Once he signs it benefits will kick in including 600 for the onetime direct payments that will go to individuals who make less than 75,000 a year. Each person in that family would get 600 depending a family of four could get 2400 depending on the certain income level theyre not, they reach the certain income requirements. In addition to that, jobless benefits, people are about to see their benefits expire. Millions of people, but this legislation would extend those benefits, including 300 a week for people who are about to see those expire, those enhanced Unemployment Benefits will last 11 weeks. In addition to that, more than 80 billion for schools, billions more for vaccine distribution. About 280 billion for small businesses. So this package is massive. The second largest rescue package in american history, something that was hard fought and really only come together after the last several days of intense round the clock negotiations among the congressional leaders. They dropped it. They finally put it out today, and already its going to get through both chambers of congress in just a matter of hours from its introduction here, laura. The numbers youre talking about are staggering. So, again, is the despair people have been experiencing all year long. Manu raju, thank you for your reporting. As always, i appreciate it. Joining me now senior White House Correspondent john harwood and talu. Im glad youre here tonight. What an historic occasion now as so many people have been waiting and desperate for this opportunity to try to make ends meet at the end of the year, let alone all through 2020. John, let me begin with you because the president was absent from negotiations on this and the American People had been suffering for months with no leadership and no deal until right now. Were talking about this is, what, the 21st of december now. What took so long . Well, look, what took so long is the function of what was happening in congress with respect to President Trump. He is, as secretary cohen told you a few minutes ago, he has never benefit to be president , but he is right now in a position where hes not even interested in faking it. No Public Events on his schedule again tomorrow. And i think whats really going on is that the president is psychologically disabled at the moment by his defeat. This is somebody who, throughout his life, has been terrified of being labelled a loser. He is struggling against that. He is spending a ton of his time watching tell vicevision, tweet and making some sort of crazy schemes with people at the white house to somehow overturn his defeat, which is not going to happen. And as a result, the American People are seeing people like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and mike flynn, various people going in and out with the president , just engaging in crazy talk about martial law and seizing Voting Machines and all that sort of stuff. Thats where we are with this president , and weve got 30 more days to go of it. You named a couple members of the motley crew. And you know that he met with members of congress as well tonight to try to push his otherwise bogus claims at this point in time about the election. So what are you hearing about those meetings with the actual members of congress as well, john . Reporter well, hes trying to get people to contest the election on january 6th when congress meets to certify the Electoral College vote. Its going to be easy to get one in the house because there are so many trumpy extreme members of congress who see doing this doing trumps bidding on this score as a way to raise money and get famous and get praise by him. Some of them may even believe it because some of them are not all there mentally either. But in the senate its going to be more difficult because Mitch Mcconnell is really putting the hammer down trying to stop this. John thune, one of the members of the Republican Leadership said tonight that if a senator objects and tries to provoke a debate its going to get taken down like a shot dog. I think it is not going to go anywhere. But if youre the president of the United States, think about where you are. Youve got 30 more days in office. Youre about to lose the benefits and protections of the presidency. You owe hundreds of millions of dollars. And you are facing the threat of criminal prosecution. It is a bleak picture. And so the president , who often talks about how people choke like a dog in certain situations, is right now choking on his defeat, thrashing around, trying to figure out some alternative. Hes not going to find one. Talu, im dying to hear your opinion as well. There are multiple senior officials who are telling cnn they are fearing what could happen in the final days john is talking about. There is talk of seizing Voting Machines, talk of invoking martial law. Is there anyone in the white house who can tell the president this is insane . Is there any adult in the room who is confident about not being a yes man at this point . There are fewer and fewer people who can be seen as guardrails around this president even as he is become more unhinged, more unwilling to break with traditions and break norms and push the bounds of just general human behavior, not to talk about president ial behavior, talking about things like invoking martial law, attacking members of his own party if they get out of line. The president has seen people who were . What in the mainstream even though they were very much on his side. Like attorney general bill barr starting to leave, leave his side, leave, you know, the administration. A lot of people are shopping around their resumes. So there arent that many people who might be seen as relatively sane to talk to the president and say, no, you cannot invoke martial law, you cannot use the military to try to overturn the results of an election that you lost. And instead he has people around him like Sidney Powell, people like Rudy Giuliani, people who are willing to tell him whatever he wants to stroke his ego even if its conspiratorial, even if there is no basis in fact to the things that hes hearing. Hes looking for that kind of affirmation. Hes looking for people to tell him hes going to be able to stay in office after january 20th. And hes reaching further and further to the fringes of the political atmosphere to find those people. And the guardrails around the presidency have really fallen away and there arent very many people who are left, people who may have been able to tell the president the truth. Now they have either disappeared or theyve been sidelined or ousted or attacked by the president and now instead he is surrounding himself with sycophants who are willing to temperature him what he wants to hear. Looking for ego stroking is one thing, talu. Youre reporting the president is actively trying to handicap bidens presidency, not just have his own ego stroked and have people not acknowledge that the emperor has on no clothes. Is the ultimate goal here to try to create trojan horses in the incoming administration, too . There are a number of things the president is doing to make it much harder for joe biden to govern as a president after january 20th. Hes already going to be inheriting a number of problems from the pandemic to the economic challenge that the country is facing, the issue of Racial Injustice is facing the new incoming president. President trump is making it that much harder. He is installing people across government to burrow into the various agencies to continue his policies as opposed to joe bidens policies after joe biden takes over. Essie essential he is essentially making hard for people to see biden as a legitimate president by pushing claims of fraudulent voting and the election was stolen and rigged. Hes essentially saying joe biden is not a legitimate president. Thats going to make it much harder for biden to take office and to take control. President trump is using these final 30 days or so that he has in office to put in place all kinds of policies that will be very difficult to overturn, very difficult to shift back to traditions and norms the country are used to. It will be very difficult for biden to take over. John, talu, thank you for your time. I shudder to think if thats the plan, how does that serve america . Thats rhetorical. No need to answer that. Well talk again. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate it. I want to bring in democratic senator chris coons from delaware. He just cast his vote on the stimulus bill in the senate. Senator coons, im glad youre here. After casting that important vote, are you happy with this 900 billion stimulus bill . Its far from the 1. 8 trillion that mnuchin made this fall, that offer. Laura, im relieved. This is something that we had to get done. We should have gotten it done months ago. As you mentioned, there were offers back and forth before the election, but there was never a moment before the election where majority leader Mitch Mcconnell of the senate said he would accept more than 500 billion. So the fact that we are overwhelmingly passing a 900 billion relief package tonight is some encouragement to me. This is just shortterm aid. What i hear every day from delawareans is they are incredibly anxious, concerned, even angry. Their unemployment has run out. Theyre facing eviction. Many are going to our food bank the first time. This will help provide stopgap several months, but were going to have to come back and provide more relief early next year. So when do you think this might actually be a check in hand for people . When will they get the funds . Some folks could see the stimulus checks, the 600 per individual making under 75,000 or family under 150, those could be sent out as early as next week. A family of four that is eligible could get 2400. Those will be distributed fastest to those who filed electronically for their taxes or who received a stimulus check before. There is also close to 300 billion in support for small businesses. Those who received one of those p. P. P. Loans before, who had particularly big losses and especially those like restaurants and hotels who are in the hardesthit segments, theyll also receive relief fairly quickly. But theres lots of ways in which this bill is providing support through states for the distribution of the vaccine, for schools, for those facing eviction or housing loss, for nutrition. It does provide a lot of relief across a lot of different areas, laura. Senator coons, while all this hard work is being done, the president is still trying to overturn the election. So, i mean, were told theres been talks of even trying to seize Voting Machines, about invoking martial law. Are you worried that these things could actually happen . Particularly if you have this backdrop of this allimportant bill and relief for people to get what theyve needed all this time. Laura, ill remind you that President Trump in recent days has been doing nothing to help us as a role model by getting vaccinated or wearing a mask. Nothing in terms of responding to a broadscale attack by russia on our security infrastructure, and nothing to help get this final covid relief bill done. In fact, hes threatening to veto the defense bill that we recently passed that would strengthen our cyber defenses. So, you know, look, President Trump has utterly failed to actually be president in these recent days. We have just a month left until the inauguration. Of course, im concerned about the ways in which he is setting a terrible example for the world about how to serve as president and how to accept the results of an election. But i am confident that joe biden will be sworn in on january 20th as the 46th president of the United States. I mean, talu just told me trump is actively trying to make joe bidens job harder. You talk about the idea of setting a bad example for the world about how to lose an election. Is he setting some sort of a trap or establishing disadvantages for the Incoming Biden Administration right now . Thats started with the election, when President Trump refused to allow his Senior Leaders to begin a transition to prepare the Incoming Biden Administration to handle the pandemic that President Trump so mishandled, to help with our economic recovery. The transition got started more than a month too late, and i am concerned that there are ways in which some of his most loyal administration leaders, like the secretary of defense, have slowwalked or interfered with transition briefings. This is concerning. But frankly, tonight is the winter solstice. I think as you know stars aligned in the sky tonight. That is an important symbol of what happened on the senate floor that we passed a 900 billion relief package. And starting tomorrow, the nights get shorter and the days get longer and we begin to move towards a new year, a new spring, and hope for a new beginning for our country. With joe biden as our next president , we have a chance to come together as a country and to move past this disastrous presidency of donald trump and forward towards a more unified country and a more positive presidency. And the vaccines as of late are also giving people much needed optimism about what the future could look like, a return to normalcy or maybe even the planet earth. We have a picture of you, senator coons, receiving your covid19 vaccine this weekend. How do you feel . Any side effects, any concerns . Laura, there were no side effects, just soreness in my arm typical with any vaccination. No side effects whatsoever. Frankly many of my colleagues have also been vaccinated and have told me none of them have had any side effects either. This is a miracle of science, this vaccine, and we are so grateful to the researchers here and around the world who raced from the discovery of this pandemic, this covid19, and to the development of several safe and effective vaccines. This is the shortest time line in which an effective vaccine has ever been developed. I have full confidence in its safety. I urge people to take it when its available and to recognize that the only way we will ultimately get back to normal, get back to the robust and positive lives that we all hope to enjoy, is if over 70 of the American People get vaccinated. Its my hopes folks will follow the example of joe biden and embrace this as a safe and effective vaccine. The people you named are not the everyday american. Whats your response to those who accuse lawmakers of, so to speak, cutting the vaccine line . Well, we did have a robust debate about that in my congressional delegation. I talked with friends and family in delaware. I have a constitutional obligation to be able to be here to cast votes. Weve got issues like this bill tonight, like some of the nominations that be be considered early next year. We were told by the physician of the senate that the National Security council had decided for the stability and security of our government, the supreme court, entire government and be vaccinated. After some debate, i decided to go ahead and be vaccinated. Im hlsd you weglad you wered hopefully that relief will get to americans who desperately needed. Senator coons, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. You heard the senator say he got his coronavirus vaccine, and so did a lot of others on capitol hill, including, by the way, some politicians who denied the virus was a big deal at all, and even down played it to the potential danger of their constituents. But someone who didnt downplay it and told the American People they shouldnt either, also got the vaccine today. And with enthusiasm. Are you ready . Im ready. Okay. Republican lawmakers who have repeatedly down played the virus, getting a lot of backlash for receiving early vaccinations. Several tweeting out images of them even getting the vaccine, including senator lindsey graham. The same graham who refused to get tested before a debate with his 2020 challenger after he had been at a hearing with another lawmaker who later tested positive. Senator joni ernst lisalso posting her vaccine shot. She pedaled the Conspiracy Theory doctors were inflating the death count for profit. Listen. I have heard it from Health Care Providers that they do get reimbursed higher amounts if its a covidrelated illness or death. Theyre thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were singularly covid19. That was august 31st. Joining me now, cnn medical analyst dr. Jonathan reiner and dr. William schaffeener. Im glad youre here, Infectious Diseases at vanderbuilt university. Ill begin with you, dr. Reiner, after hearing that long list of lawmakers who now have the vaccine. For the public health, we all support everyone getting vaccinated. Nonetheless, though, these gop lawmakers being first in line to get a vaccine enabled misinformation about this virus. Im wondering how you feel about that. Hi, laura. It rubs me in the wrong way also. But i will say that there is a lot of benefit they can do now. Now that they sort of see the benefit of vaccination, every member of congress who gets vaccinated should post a picture of them doing that. And then tell all their constituents why theyve gotten vaccinated and how safe the vaccines are and how much confidence they have in them. There is really an enormous amount of Vaccine Hesitancy in the United States and its split along party lines. Typically the republicans where a recent study from the Kaiser Family foundation has suggested that over 50 of republicans say they either definitely wont or probably wont get the vaccine. Having some of these members of Congress Post pictures and test to the safety will go a long way in relieving some of that hesitancy. So lets have them make this a positive. They say its never too late to do the right thing. Maybe this is the opportunity to do so. Dr. Schaffeener, senator rand paul telling cnn people who already have covid shouldnt be getting a vaccine, including nursing home patients. Is that good advice from dr. Paul . Laura, good evening. Thats not the current advice from the cdc. Were taking all comers. Were happy to vaccinate people who have not had covid and people who have had covid. Its important, as dr. Reiner said, get as many vaccinated as quickly as possible. We want everyone to come in. As we were saying, we welcome the converts. Come on in, and they can be particularly important as role models because they may be able to convince skeptics even more than im able to convince skeptics. So we want everybody to come in and be vaccinated. Well, if theyre even more influential, that cant be a bad thing. Dr. Reiner, i have to look at whats happening across the pond, as they say. The white house is now weighing testing requirements from travelers from the u. K. As you know, there is a new variant of the virus there. President trump loves to tout his early travel restrictions on china. Listen to this. I stopped china from coming to the United States. I stopped europe from coming into the United States long before the march date that youre talking about. So people should say i acted very early. In january we put the ban on in china. That was a very early day. That wasnt a late date, that was an early date. Then we put the ban on in europe. This country is very lucky and im lucky i did the ban on china. Lucky i did the ban, thats all i can tell you, lucky i did the ban. Dr. Reiner, as you know, biden is not yet the president and donald trump remains the president of the United States. So should he be as part of the government banning travel from the u. K. Right now similar to what he did with china . Well, i dont think its a bad idea at all to try and test all visitors who come to the United States, particularly from a new hot spot in the u. K. I love that idea. But i think this virus was at least this variant was first identified a few months ago. Because it was identified a few months ago, its almost certainly in the United States in some numbers. But if its growing in numbers in parts of the u. K. And we can test all travelers or have a momentary because in travel from the u. K. Its not a horrible idea and i would support that. Dr. Schaffeener, you said if this variant was spreading in the u. K. , you agree if its already been there awhile, its almost assuredly already here. Do you agree . What effect with thould this tr ban if there whether one be effective in the United States now . It might have some limited effectiveness, laura. Clearly we want as little virus in the country it possible. Remember travel bans and incoming tests of travelers have their limitations. Theyre not a big steel door that comes down. If we recognize what the limitations are, we will be successful. What it comes down to, remember, wear your mask if you want to add travel bans or testing on incoming people, sure. But we have the responsibility to interrupt the transmission of this virus or reduce it as much as possible. And thats what we need to do right here right now. Doctors, i have my mask, have my mask right here. Thank you both for your time tonight. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Attorney general bill barr making a big break. One of President Trumps most loyal lieutenants going against his soontobe former boss in a very public way. Former fbi Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe is with me. Thats up next. They have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again every minute. Understanding how to talk to your doctor about Treatment Options is key. Today, we are redefining how we do things. We find new ways of speaking, so youre never out of touch. Its seeing someones face that comforts us, no matter where. When those around us know us, they can show us just how much they care. The first steps of checking in, the smallest moments can end up being everything. Theres resources that can inform us, and that spark can make a difference. When we use it to improve things, then that change can last within us. When we understand whats possible, we wont settle for less. The best thing we can be is striving to be at our best. Managing Heart Failure starts now with understanding. Call today or go online to understandheartfailure. Com for a free Heart Failure handbook. Attorney general bill barr breaking with President Trump today on the way out the door. Contradicting the president on election fraud, on hunter biden, on the cyberattack, and on Voting Machines. Take a listen to this exchange with cnns evan perez. The president has continued to make the case that there was fraud in the election. Do you believe there is enough evidence to warrant appointing a special counsel to look into it . If i thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, i would do i would name one, but i havent and im not going to. Joining me now, former fbi Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe. Hes now a cnn senior law enforce analyst, and author of the book the threat, how the fbi protects america in the age of trump. He used to be a staunch defender of the president. What has happened . Has the president maybe actually gone too far this time for barr . Or is it something a little more selfserving perhaps . Well, you know, laura, its hard to say. It certainly is a late point in the game to find the courage to stand up to this president and his political mendacity. Lets remember the ground we covered up to this point. This is the same attorney general who blatantly misled the country about the substance of the mueller report. This is the same attorney general that weighed in on the prosecutions of the president s friends in ways that were beneficial to them like roger stone, interfering with the sentencing of roger stone, attempting to dismiss the case against michael flynn, which was an absurdly political result. The same attorney general that supported the president s efforts in man handling and abusing people exercising their First Amendment rights during the George Floyd Protests over the summer. So weve covered a lot of ground up until this point that showed william barr to be the attorney general who most closely aligned the department of justice with the politics of the white house in a very detrimental way. You know, maybe he has realized that the president has through all that managed to drag him and his personal and professional reputation down a pretty dark hole. And you just mentioned just a sliver of the things that could be covered in the grand scheme of things. And i wonder if that really is the motivation or not. Weve been reporting the president is still, in all of this, is still trying to overturn the election. And a lot can happen, as you know, between now and january 20th. So will the new acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, now hold the line, do you think . Were about to find out. As you and i both know, the Deputy Attorney general is probably one of the toughest jobs in the entire federal government, right. Over 100,000 employees in the department of justice, 30 billion budget, 93 federal judicial district. They run the d. O. J. And rosen so far has been able to do that without attracting any major attention. Those days are over because he is going to be in the hot seat as the acting attorney general. And if there is something that this president wants, whether it be unlawful or unconstitutional, he is going to ask Jeffrey Rosen to do it. So were about to find out whether rosen has the wherewithal and the integrity to stand up to that kind of pressure. I wonder in the context of, say, special counsels. Because the president , you know, wants special counsels. Will he get one by hook or by crook, or by leaning on rosen enough . Will that work . He certainly could. As you know, the special counsel, its not a law. Its really Justice Department policy. It requires an appointment by the attorney general. Its not the sort of thing the president does by himself. And in order for that special counsel to have Law Enforcement and prosecutorial authority, he really derives that from the attorney general. So if this president wants it, and all indications are that he wants them investigating hunter biden or investigating these preposterous theories of voter fraud, he is probably going to put significant pressure on jeff rosen. The question for mr. Rosen is, are you prepared to get fired by doing the right thing. Well see if he is indeed. Thank you for your time. I appreciate t. Youre welcome. Thanks, good to see you. Good to see you, too. You know, americans are struggling right now to make ends meet this holiday season. Theyve been all year long. And with millions going hungry, situation is getting so severe that many are worried that there wont be enough food to go around. For me to get the last of something, and the person behind me be in a worse position no problem. And done. Save 50 on the sleep number 360 limited Edition Smart bed. Plus, 0 interest for 48 months on all smart beds. Ends monday. Save for being a new customer. Save more for adding drivewise. Save even more for driving safely. See how much you can save with allstate. Visit allstate. Com or contact your local agent today. Youre choosing to get connected to the most to xfinity mobile, Reliable Network nationwide, now with 5g included. Discover how to save up to 400 a year with shared data starting at 15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. Come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. You can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. Stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. Relief from congress on the way to the American People, yet this holiday season, many are lining up at food banks, hoping to get enough for themselves and loved ones. And there are concerns as the pandemic surges, the need will get worse. Cnns rosa flores has more. Reporter before dawn, people waited at a south florida mall on the weekend before christmas. Are we sleeping . Reporter but theyre not here holiday shopping. Theyre in line for free food. Always been hesitant about coming because im sorry. I would hate for the me to get the last of something and the person behind me be in a worse position than i am. Melon, can i have two melons here, please . Reporter its a scene replayed across the cunanan interest guid country. In los angeles where the Food Distribution since the pandemic has doubled. Atlanta where cars waited an hour and a half before distribution started. This is another indication of the pain and suffering thats being felt all across our nation. Reporter since the pandemic began in march, hunger in the United States has skyrocketed. Feeding america, the nations largest food bank network, reports a 60 increase in the demand over last year. Merry christmas. God bless you guys. Reporter in south florida, one in five people need Food Assistance and a quarter of children go to bed hungry according to south florida. Debra hightower is an accountant. This is hard for me to come here. Reporter the mother of three teenagers was recently hospitalized and said she has lost her job twice since the pandemic started. Im very independent and do not like to ask for help. But sometimes you just have to do reporter some people like Larry Battiste waited for hours not to get food for himself, but three members of his church who are unemployed and cant leave their homes because of covid concerns. You certainly get a lot of smiles. You cant hug them any more. Reporter leonard and Julie Thompson delivered the food they received to seven neighbors and friends. Appreciate you sharing with me as usual. Reporter as the pandemic surges, demand for food merry christmas. Reporter is expected to grow. Ill see you soon. Reporter feeding south florida has distributed more than 150 Million Pounds of food since the pandemic began. That is double the demand compared to last year, and people from this food bank says that theyre only expecting for the need to grow. Laura . Rosa, thank you. And as the food and the need for food surges, congress on track to pass its covid relief bill. Here with me now, cnns economics commentator catherine rampel. It was hard to watch what rosa was presenting knowing how much this relief package means to so many people and yet we have this long awaited covid relief package and it includes direct payments of up to 600 for individuals, enhanced jobless benefits of 300 per week, roughly 284 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans. So whats left out here . There are some big pieces left out of this legislation. Among them, aid to states and municipalities. And, by the way, it is not just blue states or blue cities that are in trouble here. There have been, you know, letters signed by mayors in republican and democratic cities, governors of republican and democratic states, county executives, et cetera, pleading for this money. They have already laid off 1. 3 million Public Sector workers. This is first responders, teachers, cops, sanitation workers, Public Hospital workers, et cetera. And more layoffs are likely coming because, frankly, these governments are just broke and they really need the aid. And, catherine, we see now that congress has, in fact, passed 900 billion, excuse me, covid relief bill. It now goes to the white house for trumps signature. And the relief bill includes that socalled three martini lunch Tax Deduction meaning businesses can deduct meal expenses. The president believes its going to help restaurants. How will that help when restaurants are either closed due to restrictions or people arent even eating indoors because obviously theyre afraid of getting covid . Yeah, i think you hit the nail on the head here. The reason why executives arent whini wining and dining clients. They dont want to get sick and their clients dont want to leave their homes. It seems highly unlikely that an expansion of this tax break that already exists, by the way, is really going to convince a lot more people to do inhouse dining, if we even want there to be more inhouse dining. And even if it did, on the margin it did encourage a little more business, its probably not going to help the vast majority of restaurants out there. It will help steakhouses. It will help pie and sushi restaurants, sure. Your local diner and pancake house are not getting a ton of revenue from expense accounts. Really, if we want to help restaurants, if you want to help restaurant workers, we need to pay them directly. That makes a lot more sense than this sort of rue goldberg machine like contraption of basically giving a tax break to companies to encourage employees to use expense accounts and hope some of that money gets passed along to waiters and line cooks. As always, catherine rampel, thank you for your expertise and insight. Appreciate it. Thank you. A notable change inside the u. S. Capitol building. A statue of confederate general robert e. Lee removed this morning from its perch where it stood since 1909. The removal made at the behest of virginias governor ralph northam. All states are allowed to donate two statues as part of the national staf National Statuary hall collection. The lee statue was donated by virginia. Governor northam saying it is a symbol of the states racist history and its time to take it down. It will be replaced with a statue of the late barbara rose johns, an africanamerican woman who played a key role in the civil rights movement, particularly brown versus board of education. Now up ahead, a u. P. S. Driver who lost his father to covid delivers what he calls his most important shipment. Coronavi rolling out across the country. More than 4. 6 million doses have already been delivered, according to the cdc. Many states receiving their first shipments of the newly authorized Moderna Vaccine earlier today. And for some of the drivers, tasked with shipping out the vaccine, its more than a job. In november, u. P. S. Driver todd elbys parents came down with covid19 and his 78yearold father paul lost his life to the virus. But on sunday elby drove out his shipment full of the countrys second authorized vaccine, saying he felt as though his father was right there with him in the truck. Todd elby joins me now. Todd, first, im so sorry to hear about your father. And i understand your family was very hit hard by this particular virus. How is everyone doing now . How is your mom . How are you . My mom is doing well. Shes at home and shes recovered and shes doing wonderful, as good as can be expected. Im sorry . Go ahead, sir. Oh, we are staying as strong as we can, one day at a time, to get through this together. Do you even know how your dad got the virus . Any thoughts . Um, theres speculation. He went to wyoming to go hunting were some family members. And he called me while he was out there. He told me he thought he was getting sick. And i got worried and suggested he pick up some medication and hopefully get home soon and safe. And about five days later he ended up in the hospital and, uh, it wasnt very long and he was on the ventilator. A total of 13 days he was in the hospital. Thats just so terrible, a story we hear far too often, and what its done to families like yours. I just have to know, what would your dad think of you helping get this vaccine out to people across the entire country . What would it mean to him . I know my dad is smiling down on us right now. He was very proud. He always was. Ive been with u. P. S. For 37 years, and i started right after high school, started parttime. Went into the package car then into the tractor trailers into the feeder division. He always was excited, wanted to know where i was going, how the weather was. He would call me all the time, give me reports. But he was a great guy and hes been missed very badly. Well, sounds like youre a great guy, too, todd. You know, its not just the vaccine because Truck Drivers like yourself have been keeping America Running during this entire pandemic, as people have been ordering everything online. Theyre trying to social distance. What does it mean to you . You must be as proud of yourself, hopefully, as we all are to be helping the country like this. Well, we did not get any days off. I know a lot of companies shutdown. At u. P. S. , we just kept after it, working day in and day out. Many of my coworkers were asking, they wanted to stay home with their families. I said, no, this is what we do now to keep this country going. We had to stay strong and stay focused and do it a day at a time. And we did. Its not been easy taking care of our parents while they were told to stay home, and on the weekends we would shop for them and drop things off. But this shipment yesterday meant a lot to me personally. It was a great honor and an honor for my mother. Were you worried about yourself in all this . Ive been careful. I have asthma myself and i use the Hand Sanitizer in my truck every day, the wipes, the mask, and just trying to stay as safe as possible, and uh, careful who comes in and out of our house. When we would stop at our parents, we would definitely put things on the porch and walk away and leave. So we wasnt there face to face. So it was very hard. Its been so hard and the work you guys are doing to try to make sure its easier on the rest of us, you said its what you do now. You said youre going to get the vaccine. Whats your message to folks who may be hesitant right now to get vaccinated, todd . Well, i want to get vaccinated as soon as possible. I was asked yesterday if i would get it, and i said, when my time comes, ill be first in line on that day. And, uh, i hope all my family members and friends get it and i hope everybody gets it so we can get through this pandemic, get our lives back together, and hopefully continue the dreams, the American Dreams we all have and weve all lost. Thank you for sharing your family with us. Thank you for having me. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues. I remember setting up shipstation. One or two clicks and everything was up and running. I was printing out labels and saving money. Shipstation saves us so much time. It makes it really easy and seamless. 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When we understand whats possible, we wont settle for less. The best thing we can be is striving to be at our best. Managing Heart Failure starts now with understanding. Call today or go online to understandheartfailure. Com for a free Heart Failure handbook. Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. You are watching cnn newsroom, and im rosemary church. Just ahead, drug giants are testing their vaccines on a covid variant, reported in the uk. Why experts say it could already be late. A 900 billion stimulus bill is on its way
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